228 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 274 . 



break its formality. This border is filled mostly with small 

 plants, not very showy or producing what are known as ser- 

 viceable tlowers, and I cannot claim that it proves very inter- 

 esting to the ordinary visitor. Man generally does not seem 

 to have his perception of beauty in form and color very well 

 developed. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Chrysanthemums. — Growers of Chrysanthemums hereabout 

 agree that the first of June is early enough to commence the 

 propagation of plants for specimen blooms, except in the case 

 of new or rare varieties. Cuttings rooted early in May and 

 planted about the middle of June are apt to develop a very 

 considerable proportion of crown-buds late in July, and expe- 

 rience has shown that it is better to discard these. A second 

 crown, or a terminal, will probably not develop into so large a 

 flower, but it is certain to be of better form and finer in color 

 and finish. With the trade it is becoming a question whether 

 it pays to grow inordinately large blooms. Moderately large 

 flowers can be grown in much less space and time, and they 

 find a ready market, bringing in better returns for the space 

 occupied. To propagate Chrysanthemums in summer, it 

 is essential that the cuttings be soft, and they should be in- 

 serted without delay. For the first few days the cutting bench 

 must be kept saturated with water, shaded ; and, if possible, 

 closed by panes of glass laid across the bench during the day- 

 time. These should be removed each evening and on dull 

 days. The cuttings ought never to be allowed to wilt, and if 

 they are foimd in this condition in the morning, enough water 

 should be given at once to freshen them. 



Wellesley, Mass. 



T. D. H. 



The Forest. 



In the Amador Second-growth Forests. 



AMADOR COUNTY is one of the most neglected portions of 

 the Central Sierra region of California. It lies between 

 Calaveras and El Dorado, and extends from the edge of the 

 valley eastward to the summit. In outline it is something like 

 the isthmus of Tehuantepec, irregular, and narrow in the 

 middle. It is large, thinly populated and very mountainous. 

 Historically it has been one of the most active of the old 

 mining counties. Large quartz mines are in operation there, 

 but the placer mines were long ago exhausted. 



A branch railroad extends east from Gait, in Sacramento 

 County, to lone, in Amador. Stages run to the towns and vil- 

 lages as far as Volcano, about twenty-five miles further east, 

 and 3,000 feet above the sea. At the present time (May ist), 

 and for six or eight weeks longer. Volcano will be the end of 

 the stage route ; in summer the stages go " to the snow-line." 

 For the trip to Volcano the last of April is probably the pleas- 

 antest part of the year, for the roads are not dusty and the 

 weather is delightful, though the nights are still cold — about 

 thirty-five degrees at times — so that one needs a heavy over- 

 coat if traveling late. 



When Amador was first settled. Yellow Fines of great size 

 stood in forests down to the 1,200-foot level, and Sugar Pines 

 began to mingle with them at about 1,500 feet. A little higher 

 came the Librocedcus, and then the Douglas Spruce, while the 

 Pines continued. The Oaks were also very large and fine. All 

 these earlier trees, except a few Oaks, have been cut down, 

 and the whole face of the country, except in small scattered 

 clearings, is covered with second growth and coarse bushes of 

 no economic value. All the lumber used by the people comes 

 from forty miles further east. Even there the large trees are 

 nearly gone, except in almost inaccessible gulches. The sell- 

 ing price of rough lumber averages $20.00 per thousand in 

 Jackson, the county-seat, though it is hauled forty miles over 

 very steep roads. None of the mills are making much money. 

 Spruce, cedar and pine lumber are rated at about the same 

 price. The mines use a great deal of heavy timber in shafts, 

 drifts, tunnels and buildings. Teamsters are seen bringing 

 down logs sixteen feet long and three feet in diameter to the 

 lumber-yards of the leading mine companies ; such a log is 

 worth fifteen or sixteen dollars, and hundreds of them may be 

 seen piled up near the mine-shafts. 



In some parts of the country there are gulches that are fairly 

 dotted with old tunnels, shafts and dumps. Everywhere there 

 is evidenceof immense energies spent upon minesnow worked 

 out or abandoned, and millions of feet of lumber have been 

 buried underground. The undeveloped resources of the re- 

 gion are very great, and new ledges are being opened every 

 year. It is easy to see where the famous forests of central 

 Amador have gone, and now the forests of the upper ridges 



are being used. Although the county is in one of the best por- 

 tions of the Sierras, its available timber-supply has steadily de- 

 creased since its settlement. The view of some writers that the 

 timber-supply of the country is. increasing seems most ridicu- 

 lous here. 



A great deal of the lumber cut has been takenfrom Govern- 

 ment land. Everybody admits this, but seems to think it hardly 

 right to prevent it. Every saw-mill owns land, of course, but 

 somehow all the accessible Government sections are in second 

 growth, exactly the same as the sections that have been en- 

 tered. That tells the story to an unbiased observer. 



The second growth is very beautiful, and even over the 

 larger part of many square miles .it is in exactly the con- 

 dition now that an intelligent forester would like to have it, if 

 he were to take charge of the district. Twenty thousand acres 

 of second-growth Pine (P. Ponderosa and P. Lambertiana) are 

 to be seen from the county road between Clinton and Volcano 

 (about ten miles), that only need thinning and protecting to 

 become in due time as valuable as any forest on the Sierras. 

 There is a great deal more that would repay care, and many 

 thousand acres which are valueless except for timber, but which 

 could be planted. The settlers start fires to destroy brush and 

 under-growth, and improve pasture, and every few years 

 these fires run over large territories, destroying the second- 

 growth Pines. There are not many sheep and cattle in the 

 region now, but they come up from the valleys later. The 

 second-growth Pines average five or six inches in diameter, 

 with many small trees struggling in the dense under-growth 

 of the more treeless slopes of chapparal. 



The soil is really excellent mountain soil, fit for large tree 

 growth. The red soil is the best, and will easily support grass, 

 grain, fruit-trees, Olives and Grape-vines. The sand soil (de- 

 composed granite) is much poorer, but it grows good Pines, 

 and should certainly be left in forest. The total area of the 

 county is 360,000 acres, nearly one-fourth of which is Govern- 

 ment land. The population is about 12,000. I think that I am 

 speaking within bounds when I say that two-thirds of the en- 

 tire area of the county is better adapted to the growth of forest 

 than to any other industry. 



One of the most instructive and remarkable features of the 

 region is to be seen in the old orchards, planted in the fifties, 

 but much neglected for twenty years past. Many trees are 

 seedlings and of inmiense vigor and strength. Cherries, Pears, 

 Plums and Apples are seen in full bloom in April, in flats 

 along the streams, or near old cabins. Sometimes they stand 

 by the road-side, or in abandoned clearings. I hope to take 

 time in the fruiting season to study these and other old and 

 neglected mountain orchards, whose hardiness and vigor un- 

 der extremely adverse conditions are most surprising. 



The grandest April-blooming tree of the region is Cornus 

 Nuttallii. A specimen thirty or forty feet high, on Jackson 

 Creek, illuminated the whole hill-side with its large white 

 flowers. There are not many of these trees in the region, but 

 there are a few in every valley. I hope to see this superb 

 Dogwood planted in more of our lowland shrubberies, where 

 it is almost unknown. 



Berkeley, Calif. Charles Howard Shinn. 



Correspondence. 



The Gardens at Wellesley. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Last winter was the most severe one we have experi- 

 enced at Wellesley for several years. The thermometer 

 ranged about zero for many days in succession, and at one 

 time it fell to thirteen degrees below. Such weather is not 

 favorable for Rhododendrons generally, and it was to be ex- 

 pected that some of the more tender varieties would suffer 

 even after they had stood out successfully through three or 

 four comparatively mild winters. Such plants as J. Mackin- 

 tosh, J. M. Brooks, F. D. Godman, Mrs. Shuttleworth, J.Walter, 

 St. Simon, Princess Mary of Cambridge, Kate Waterer, George 

 Paul and Mrs. John Glutton in some cases have been injured 

 in the foliage and in the flower-buds. Still these varieties are 

 great acquisitions, and I have full confidence that with good 

 cultivation they will become successfully and permanently es- 

 tablished. 



The following varieties have not suffered with me : Lady 

 Gray Edgerton, C. S. Sargent, Ralph Sanders, Lady Armstrong, 

 Charles Dickens, Bacchus, Mr. H. IngersoU, Mrs. Milner, E. S. 

 Rand, Charles Bagley and Neilsonii. These may be, therefore, 

 confidently included among perfectly reliable varieties, as they 

 have been cuUivated by me for many years, and have endured 

 the past winter without the slightest injury. In some cases the 



